CIPS CONNECTIONS

This week, Stephen Ibaraki has an exclusive interview with Cathy Shaughnessy.

Cathy Shaughnessy, Certified Executive Coach and owner of Perspective In Action, has been working with people as they boost their performance in the workplace for almost 25 years.

She has managed and coordinated corporate learning projects and established an outstanding track record of success as a sought after executive coach, speaker, training consultant and learning design specialist.

Certified through Royal Roads University, Cathy works primarily one-on-one with senior executives as they get traction on their own performance as leaders. She has worked as a thinking partner, performance strategist and action catalyst with executives at the Ministry of the Environment, Navantis, Research in Motion, Microsoft Canada and Manulife Financial.

Cathy holds an Associate Certified Coach designation with the International Coach Federation, and is a member of the Canadian Association of Professional Speakers and the National Speakers Association. Cathy is a Psycho-Geometrics consultant licensed by Dr. Susan Dellinger.

Cathy was a founding partner of ShaughnessyHowell, an award winning training organization which earned an unprecedented 6 national gold awards for excellence given by the Canadian Society for Training and Development during her 19 years with the organization.

Boasting such large and long-term clients as Canada Post Corporation, The Bay, the Shared Services Bureau for the Province of Ontario and many other private and public sector organizations, ShaughnessyHowell continues to stand out as a leader in the training and development field.

Interview Time Index (MM:SS) and Topic

:00:34:

Cathy, we can learn from your long history of successes. Can you profile how you got to your present position and what your current role entails? "....I often tell people that what I do is 'to help leaders get from intention to action'. That's primarily what I do on a day to day basis and I love it...."

:05:14:

Why is executive coaching hitting the mainstream as the development tool of choice for talented, upwardly mobile professionals?"....When you are working with somebody one-on-one, you are saying 'I want to get focused'. The right coach is going to help you to really stay focused on your goals and to be accountable for your actions...."

:06:09:

Can you provide details on the areas of focus for senior and mid-level managers as well as emerging leaders when they work with your service? ".....People work with me for a whole variety of reasons.......Develop leadership style....Make headway on their goals....Move a large project forward....Work out people challenges....Decide on next career move....Get working lives in better balance with their home lives....Write targeted objectives that align with organizational goals....Primarily it's at times when they need a thinking partner to help them move forward on some sort of an issue..."

:08:41:

Can you explain how coaching is different from mentoring or training? "....The most significant difference is the angle that the base knowledge is coming from. When you are working with a mentor, you are working with somebody whose body of knowledge rests on their experiences in the trenches....It's a bit similar with training....The base knowledge is coming from the trainer....With coaching the base knowledge is actually coming from you, the person who is being coached...."

:10:45:

How is your background in learning and development the perfect backdrop for your work in coaching?"....After 25 years of providing skills training I am still in people development. I really understand the challenges of the current organizational landscape, what's happening within organizations today and in particular what's keeping leaders up at night....It's really been an ideal dovetailing of my past experience and using those skills in a new way...."

:12:27:

There is this concept around 360-degree feedback combined with coaching creating a formula for success. Can you explain this further? "....360 Feedback and Coaching can be a powerful combination....Multi-rater feedback tools, 360's as they are called, can be a great way to get some input. When a skilled coach can work with the leader to process the feedback, create and execute development plans, the results can be exponential...."

:15:06:

Cathy shares a story from her work and experiences."....It was really energizing for me and it was such a thrill for me to see people get re-energized around the future...."

:17:47:

Do you have added items - looking into the future?"....I would say that one-on-one coaching is definitely a concept whose time has come. It's such a powerful and efficient and really effective way to get where you want to go...."

:18:53:

Take this time to comment on any topics of your choosing or looking at this another way, if you were doing this interview, what 3 questions would you ask and then what would be your answers?"....How do I sign up? How do I find out more about coaching? How do I find a great coach? I have so many people ask me those questions....Where I would direct people to start is really to find out more about coaching itself. The best resource is the International Coach Federation...."